Fuse holder device



Feb. 24, 1970 R. w. SEBASTIAN 3,497,851

FUSE HOLDER DEVICE Filed Sept. 30, 1968 United States Patent 3,497,851 FUSE HOLDER DEVICE Robert W. Sebastian, Villa Park, Ill., assignor t0 Molex Products Company, Downers Grove, Ill. Filed Sept. 30, 1968, Ser. No. 763,830 Int. Cl. H01h 85/24, 85/50, 85/54 US. Cl. 337-226 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A fuse holder for use with a screw-in type fuse, comprising a housing having a cylindrical socket portion with a central threaded opening therein, and a flange portion formed at the mouth of the opening and extending radially outwardly from the socket portion, a first metallic contact member located within the central opening and mounted on the base wall of the socket portion, and a second contact member including a ring portion with a pair of leg portions extending from opposite sides thereof, the ring portion being received in the central opening of the socket portion with the leg portions extending through apertures in the flange portion of the housing. Tab mem bers integrally formed with the leg portion of the second contact member are bent upon the insertion of the leg portion of the housing thereby to secure the contact member to the housing. The ring portion is inclined to provide an initial thread for the central opening of the threaded socket portion to insure good electrical contact between a fuse and the second contact member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to fuse holders and more particu larly to fuse holders for accommodating fuses of the screw-in type, especially those having a reduced diameter threaded entering end.

Presently there are many varieties of screw-in type fuse holders in use. For the most part, these fuse holders are constructed of multiple parts or pieces which must be riveted or screwed together. Thus, the assembly of such fuse holders can be time consuming and costly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a new and improved fuse holder which is easily assembled at a low cost.

It is another object of this invention to provide a fuse holder of the above-described type which is assembled without the requirement of screws, rivets, or the like.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a new and improved screw-in type, three-piece fuse holder which can be assembled quickly and easily without the use of additional fasteners.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A better understanding of the present invention and its organization and construction may be had by referring to the description below in conjunction with the, accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a fuse holder according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a ring terminal contact member of a fuse holder according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged axial sectional view of the fuse holder of FIG. 1 taken along the line 3-3 thereof;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the fuse holder of FIG. 3 taken along the line 4-4 thereof;

FIG. 5 is a reduced longitudinal sectional view of the fuse holder of FIG. 3 taken along the line 55 thereof;

3,497,851 Patented Feb. 24, 1970 "ice DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawings more in detail, there is shown in FIG. 1 thereof a preferred embodiment of a fuse holder 10 according to the invention. The fuse holder includes a one-piece molded housing 14, preferably of a phenolic or the like insulating material, having a central threaded aperture 13 extending thereinto and a pair of apertured extensions 16 formed therewith for securing the fuse holder in place in a fuse box receptacle, etc., by means of screws or the like (not shown). The fuse holder. further includes a one-piece, stamped terminal contact member 12, best seen in FIG. 2 and preferably of a laminated steel and copper construction, which is secured to the housing 14 in a manner to be described hereinafter, and a second contact member 15 also attached to the housing and extending into central aperture 13, as shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings.

Looking now at FIG. 2 of the drawing, there is shown therein in greater detail, the metallic contact member 12 of the fuse holder. The contact member 12 includes a central ring portion 18 with an outside diameter smaller than the diameter of central aperture 13 of housing 14 and having a flange 20- extending outwardly therefrom about the outer periphery thereof and an inwardly extending tooth portion 22 about the inner perimeter thereof. A pair of legs 24 and 26 extends outwardly from the flange 20 of the contact ring member 12 on opposite sides thereof and is bent downwardly along the lines 27 and 29 thereof, respectively. Each of the legs 24 and 26 includes, integrally formed therewith, a pair of tabs 28 extending therefrom which are bendable along the line 30 to retain the ring contact member 12 securely in place with respect to the housing 14 of the fuse holder. This will be explained more fully hereinafter. The tabs 28, as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings, are in a normal straight position and are to be bent subsequent to the assembling of the contact member 12 with housing 14 to secure the contact member thereto. Leg 26, it will be noted, is considerably longer than leg 24, in fact, looking at FIG. 3, it extends beyond the lower end 34 of the housing 14. The extended portion 32 thereof serves as a contact member for electrically connecting the fuse holder to the wiring of a fuse box, etc., in which the fuse holder will be used. The extension portion 32 of leg 26, as shown in FIG. 2, is of a double thickness of metal, that is the metal is folded back on itself, to make it more rigid so that, if necessary, it may be used as a plug-in terminal without fear of its becoming bent or mutilated. Furthermore, it permits the use of a relatively thin metal well adapted for the rest of the structure, while providing a plug-in terminal of standard thickness.

With reference now to FIG. 3, the housing 14 of the fuse holder 10 and its structure with respect to that of the ring contact member 12 will be described in more detail. As mentioned above, the housing 14 .is of a onepiece, molded constructionand of an insulating material. As shown in FIG. 3, the housing includes a threaded cylindrically shaped socket 36 with a bottom or base wall 38 integrally formed therewith. Extending outwardly about the central opening 13 of the cylindrical socket 36 and connected thereto by means of an integrally formed flange 37 are a pair of semicircular wings 40. The wings, as shown in FIG. 3, extend parallel to and along opposite sides of the cylindrical socket 36 of the housing; the free ends 44 of the wings extending in the direction of the bottom wall 38 thereof. A pair of apertures 39 extends through flange 37 directly adjacent wing 40. These apertures 39 are provided to receive therein the respective downwardly extending parts of legs 24 and 26, respectively, of ring contact member 12. An upstanding rim 46 is integrally formed with socket 36 further to insulate contact member 12 electrically from external objects so as to prevent short circuiting or the like. Second contact member 15, mentioned above, can be seen extending through an aperture 48 in the base wall 38 of the socket 36 of the housing 14. The contact member 15 is L-shaped with the shorter leg 50 of the L extending into the threaded aperture 13 of the housing portion along the inner surface of the base wall 38 thereof, and the longer leg 51 extending outwardly in the direction of extension '32 of leg 26, the two providing for external connections to the fuse holder.

A description will now be given as to the manner in which the fuse holder according to the invention is assembled.

The first step in assembling the fuse holder 10 is to insert respective legs 24 and 26 of contact member 12 into apertures 39 located in flange 37 of the housing. The insertion of the legs into respective apertures 39 serves to position the ring portion 18 of the contact member 12 into central aperture 13 of socket 36, with the outer flange 20 of the contact member 12 resting on the flange 37 of housing 14. After the legs have been inserted thereinto, tabs 28 are bent upwardly along line 30 to grip the lower surface 47 of flange 37 as shown in FIG. 4. The bending of tabs 28 is preferably accomplished by means of an automatic machine, but can be done by hand. Once bent, as shown in FIG. 4, the contact terminal member 12 is secured in position as shown in FIG. 3, and all that remains is the insertion from within central aperture 13 of the L-shaped contact member 15 into aperture 48 in base wall 38. Subsequent to the latter, the fuse holder is ready for use. No rivets or screws are required toassemble the elements of the fuse holder. Furthermore, because of the ease in which the parts are assembled and the fact that both contact members (Le. 12 and 15) are of a onepiece stamped metal construction and the housing is of a one-piece molded construction, the manufacturing cost of the fuse holder is reduced considerably and the parts inventory is held to a minimum.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 7, it can be seen that the inner perimeter of ring 18 including tooth members 22 is inclined to provide a single, initial thread with which a.

conventional screw-in type fuse (not shown) of the type having a reduced-diameter threaded end can be engaged upon the insertion thereof into central aperture 13. The single thread, it will be noted, has the same pitch as the threads of the central aperture 13 of socket 36. The beginning or starting point 56 of the single thread is shown in FIG. 7, along with a dotted and solid line outline of the tooth members 22. This serves to both mechanically and electrically connect the outer threaded body of the fuse with contact member 12. The tooth members 22 are provided as a safety measure so that, if one attempts to use a jumper wire between the contact members 12 and 15 with a damaged fuse, the wire will be severed by the tooth members upon screwing the damaged fuse into central aperture 13. Thisprevents an electrical connection in the fuse box which might be dangerous, and in doing so serves to prevent overloads and resulting fires, etc., which often occur therefrom.

FIGS. and 6 of the drawings serve to illustrate clearly the relation of the components or elements making up the fuse holder according to the invention. Looking at FIG. 5, wings 40 are seen extending radially outwardly from the socket 36 with flanges 37 radially inward from the former. In addition, tabs 28 are shown bent into a gripping position about the lower surface 47 of flange 37 to securely hold ring contact member 12 in an assembled relation with housing 14. Contact member 15, as shown in FIG. 5, extends in a parallel relation to extension 32 of leg 26, so that, if desired, both contact member and extension 32 may be plugged into a fuse box receptacle to make electrical-contact therewith.

FIG. 6 of the drawings readily illustrates the central opening 13 of the fuse holder 10. The tooth members 22 can be seen along the inner perimeter of ring contact portion 18 and legs 24 and 26 can be seen extending into the apertures 39 in flange 37. The shorter leg 50 of contact member 15 is shown extending along the inner surface or floor 52 of the housing so that it may provide a good electrical connection with a conventional base contact of a fuse inserted into the aperture 13. It should be noted that central aperture 13 is designed so that the diameter thereof is smaller than that of the United States one cent coin. This has been done as a safety measure to prevent someone from using the one cent coin to by-pass the fuse.

Accordingly, the fuse holder 10 comprises few parts and is easily assembled, safe, and reliable.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention in its broadest aspects and therefore the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A fuse holder comprising a housing of insulating material, said housing including a cylindrically shaped socket portion having a central opening of a predetermined diameter and a flange portion including aperture means therein, extending radially outwardly from said socket portion at the mouth of said opening; a first electrical contact member extending into said central opening; and a second electrical contact member separated from said first contact member and including a ring portion having an outside diameter approximately equal to the central opening of said base portion and at least one leg portion extending outwardly therefrom, said leg portion including tab means, said leg portion with said tab means being received in said aperture means in said flange portion, with said ring portion being received in said central opening, said tab means securing said second contact member to said housing.

2. A fuse holder as claimed in claim 1 wherein said aperture means of said flange portion includes a pair of holes therethrough on opposite sides thereof, wherein said second electrical contact member includes a pair of leg portions on opposite sides of the ring portion thereof, each of said leg portions including a pair of tab members, and wherein said leg portions with said respective tab members are received in respective ones of said pair of holes in said flange portion, said tab members being bendable to grip the flange portion after the insertion of the leg portions and tab members into said holes therein, thereby to secure said contact member to said housing.

3. A fuse holder as claimed in claim 2 wherein said housing of said fuse holder further includes a pair of wing portions integrally formed therewith extending outwardly therefrom on opposite sides of said socket portion, radially outwardly from the latter, said wing portions being adjacent respective ones of said leg portions so as to insulate the latter, and wherein said housing further includes integrally formed therewith an upstanding rib section surrounding the mouth of said central opening of said socket portion, thereby to electrically insulate said ring portion.

4. A fuse holder as claimed in claim 2 wherein one of sai d leg portions is of a greater length than the other of said leg portions to serve as a first terminal for said fuse holder, wherein said socket portion includes a bottom wall and wherein a first portion of said first contact member extends into said central opening of said base portion through said bottom wall, and a second portion thereof extends outwardly therefrom to form a second terminal for said fuse holder.

5. A fuse holder as claimed in claim 4 wherein said central opening of said socket portion includes a series of threads and wherein the inner perimeter of the ring portion of said second contact member includes tooth members thereabout, said tooth members being arranged to provide a single threaded portion which comprises the inltial thread of said series of threads of said central opening.

6. A fuse holder for use with screw-in type fuses, comprising: a one-piece molded housing of insulating material including a cylindrically shaped socket portion having a central threaded opening of a predetermined diameter to receive therein a screw-in type fuse, a flange portion extending radially outwardly from said socket portion at the mouth of said opening, and including a pair of apertures therethrough located on opposite sides of the flange portion, said socket portion including a base wall integrally formed therewith, a first one-piece, metallic electrical contact member, having a first end thereof extending through said base wall into said central opening of said socket portion, the second end of said first contact member extending outwardly from said base wall to form a first terminal member for said fuse holder, and a second one-piece, metallic, electrical contact member including a central ring portion having an outside diameter which is smaller than the diameter of said central opening of said socket portion, the inner perimeter of said ring portion including a plurality of tooth members thereabout, and said ring portion having a pair of leg portions extending outwardly therefrom on opposite sides thereof, each of said leg portions including a plurality of tab members and each said leg portion with said tab member being received in a respective one of said apertures of the flange portion of said housing with said ring portion of said second contact member being received in the central opening of said socket portion, one of said leg portions forming a second terminal for said fuse holder, said tab members, upon being received in said apertures, being bent to grip said flange portion thereby to secure said second contact member to said housing.

7. A fuse holder as claimed in claim 6 wherein said one leg portion forming said second terminal of said fuse holder includes an extension portion and wherein the second end of said first contact member and the extension portion provide terminals for plugging said fuse holder into a mating receptacle.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,851,558 9/1958 Linton 337195 3,056,872 10/1962 Kolton 337191 3,255,329 6/1966 Norden 337226 3,261,948 7/1966 Kobryner et a1 337-191 3,268,692 8/1966 Oldham 337191 X 3,444,498 5/1969 Bienwald 337226 H. B. GILSON, Primary Examiner U.S. c1. xn. 337-191 

